Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Miserable mumps makes a comeback

There is concern in the UK at the growing number of outbreaks of mumps among children and young people.

12 May 2005

Less invasive procedure for treatment of uterine fibroids is effective

Women who suffer from the frustrating and painful chronic symptoms of uterine fibroids have a safe and effective alternative to surgery according to new five-year studies presented at an annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology held in April. Studies found that uterine fibroid embolization has a 73 percent success rate at five years.

11 May 2005

Call for "ring-fenced" funds for research into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS)

The medical research charity, MERGE (ME Research Group) is calling for the ring fencing of resources for biomedical research into ME/CFS.

11 May 2005

Coping with pain quite a struggle for half of the U.S.A.

At least 50 precent of the U.S. population are struggling to cope either with the aggravation of intermittent pain or with the misery of chronic pain which is difficult to treat. This results in less work, crankier moods and fewer activities, combined with a wide-ranging search for pain relief.

11 May 2005

Broken bones may reduce risk of ovarian cancer

The pain and suffering of a broken bone may yield an unexpected benefit – a reduced risk of ovarian cancer.

10 May 2005

Survey finds most people with diabetes don't know about highly prevalent, serious complication

A new national survey commissioned by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) reveals that, while the majority of people with diabetes experience symptoms associated with diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage) - a serious complication of diabetes that leads to sensations of pain and/or numbness, tingling or "pins and needles" in the feet and hands - only a small minority have been diagnosed with this condition.

10 May 2005

Jefferson vascular surgeons go on web to demonstrate less invasive treatment than vein stripping for varicose veins

Stripping is a lengthy procedure often performed under general anesthesia and requires a surgeon to make incisions in the groin and below the knee and remove the vein with a long, surgical instrument extending inside the leg to the knee.

10 May 2005

Parkinson's drug Mirapex accused of causing gambling addiction

A drug prescribed to millions of patients in the U.S. as a treatment for Parkinson's disease and other conditions, has allegedly turned some patients into gambling addicts.

9 May 2005

Children are more likely to be awake during surgery than adults

New groundbreaking Australian research has discovered that children are more likely to be awake during surgery than adults.

9 May 2005

Episiotomy usually provides no benefits

According to a systematic review of existing studies, to appear in the May 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the surgical procedure known as an episiotomy, performed in up to 35 percent of U.S. vaginal births, usually provides no benefits.

5 May 2005

Serious concerns about the use of morphine in heart patients

While patients hospitalized for a heart attack have long been treated with morphine to relieve chest pain, an analysis by researchers from the Duke Clinical Research Institute has shown that these patients have almost a 50 percent higher risk of dying.

5 May 2005

Does clinical depression bring about chronic pain? Or does pain lead to depression?

Does clinical depression bring about chronic pain? Or does pain lead to depression? Because these two conditions frequently co-exist--30 to 54 percent of patients with major depressive disorder also suffer persistent physical pain--there has been much speculation about whether one causes the other or whether a common underlying factor provokes both. Results of studies into the precise nature of this relationship, however, have been inconsistent.

5 May 2005

Impact of acupuncture goes beyond the acknowledged placebo effect

Researchers at the University of Southampton and University College London have shown for the first time that the impact of acupuncture goes beyond the acknowledged placebo effect caused by the patient's own expectation of feeling benefit from the treatment.

4 May 2005

Abnormal heart scans predict higher risks for African-Americans and Hispanics

SPECT imaging scans show that abnormalities in blood flow to the muscle of the heart indicate higher cardiovascular disease risk in African-Americans and Hispanics than similar abnormalities in white patients, according to a new study (PDF) in the May 3, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

4 May 2005

Polio alert after Indonesian child is stricken

After an 18-month-old boy was diagnosed with polio, Australian parents planning holidays in Indonesia have been warned to ensure babies and toddlers have been vaccinated for polio.

3 May 2005

Whooping cough makes a comeback

The latest comeback in the health arena is whooping cough and experts are sufficiently concerned for the US government to approve the first whooping cough booster shot meant just for adolescents. The shot will be added to a booster shot against two other diseases, tetanus and diphtheria, that children already get sometime between ages 10 and 18.

3 May 2005

Modification of surgery used to correct flatfoot deformity may reduce pain and improve outcomes

Virginia Commonwealth University physicians and engineers studying foot and ankle biomechanics have developed a modification to a procedure used to correct adult-acquired flatfoot deformity that may reduce the pressure and pain that often persists after surgery.

2 May 2005